valuable. >> is there concern at all that this misinformation, this machine continues and the record can't be corrected, as the white house would like it to be, that it could potentially make it more difficult to get health care reform across this? >> the debate is dominated by something that's not true, of course. i don't think the president believes that when all is said and done, that most people will make their decisions on something that is false and something that has been said is false. but, you know, i ran that cable a little bit, dan, as you in your exhaling noted in answering another question. you know, take it a couple questions at a town hall meeting. you guys, lord knows, have shown enough people with concerns about the bill, take one of those concerns and address it

factually. >> do you think now that so much attention is being focused on the myth and the -- debunking the myths that that, in essence, will help you? . i do. i think if people believe that this plan is government-controlled health care, which it is not. if the president can address that each time he goes out there, and more and more people believele the truth, sure, i think that helps the prospect of millions to see health care reform this year. yes, ma'am? >> i think yesterday, the president seemed disappointed, wanted -- soliciting top questions and casting about for a real skeptic in the audience and not really finding one. there was the one republican and

the guy this afternoon. >> i read that the president addressed skeptics of his health care plan. >> the perception among many of the stories is the president had addressed some skeptics. >> he was [ inaudible ] soliciting tougher questions. so, to the extent there weren't as many of the folks present as he has seen in other town halls, not necessarily yellers but people who had legitimate concerns, anything you guys can do going forward as you approach those town halls to get an audience more representative? >> i don't know how many questions the president said -- how many percentage at least the last two because he took those from that i don't remember. i guess the republican was one of those two right, the guy who

said he didn't know why he was here. there was the gentleman, i think the third question, on the left hand side, so the right-hand side, so questions about medicaid and lipitor. again, i don't -- that's at least three of the eight questions as not being -- they were in some ways skeptical. i -- what i'm saying is i don't -- i'm not assuming that the audience wasn't in some ways representative. again, i sense disappointment that he didn't get yelled at, but i think there were a number of people in there who had concerns and wanted to ask the president directly. i think we are going to continue to pick people randomly to come to a town hall meeting and they will raise their hand, the president will ask. >> a smaller fraction of the audience, the ticket, as i

understand it [ inaudible ] through elected official? >> i think bill told you guys to pull that on sunday or monday. >> democratic lawmakers, would you consider in an attempt to have a more open debate, would you consider, for example, in montana, giving the republican congress -- >> i think the president feels very comfortable with the fact these having a representative discussion despite people's disappointment, that he wasn't yelled at. >> i don't doubt that if you look at the protests that we saw outside of the building yesterday, as a continuum from the t.e.a. parties and controversy over the birth certificate and some of the anger over the gates/crowley episode, i wonder -- >> let me just -- i go in the front door. i -- i don't doubt that but i'm

saying -- i didn't see a representative sample the science. >> this is a president who campaigned on the notion that we could get beyond the partisan -- the ugly partisan warfare of the last 60 years. there could be, you know, rational discussion that could bring parties together. and i wonder what happened to that, why did the postpartisan presidency not materialize? >> jonathan, again, i -- i don't know if you were outside or inside, but i think there was a rational discussion about issues not based on ideology or party inside the town hall meeting. look, it's not for me to -- i can't tell you why somebody believes, despite all preponderance of the evidence that the president was born

in -- was born here and not somewhere else. i -- i have stopped trying to see that i did he see a poll yesterday where 8% of the people said they didn't know if hawaii was or weren't sure whether hawaii was a state. so, i don't know if that's caused some consternation. >> the united states now among -- identified white collar workers, about a quarter of those people identified themselves as feeling very negative to this president. a quarter, obviously, the vast majority aren't saying that. >> right. >> but just seem like there was an emergence of, you know -- >> you said white collar? >> identified themselves as white collar workers. there seems to be an emergence of a core group of people who feel very strongly negative, whereas inauguration, i think, was only 6% who said that. >> jonathan, why think the president ever believed that all

the people were going to agree with him all of the time. or even -- certainly, that all the people agree with him a majority of the time. i think you can have the effort to talk about issues differently, to be -- to disagree on issues without being disagreeable about it, to have those types of discussions, to talk about how we deal with the issues that haven't been confronted for years and years. you're still not going to get 100% of the people all the time. you may not get most of the people all of the time. i think the president will continue to reach out to democrats and republicans for ideas, both in washington and outside of washington. continue to find a way to bridge the differences that we have and seek common sense solutions. i think that's what he's tried

to do since he has come into office. >> robert gibbs at the white house briefing as the white house tries to get out front of this continuing health care debate. right now on "andrea mitchell reports" protesters are staking out senator ben cardin's health care town hall. it is about to kick off in maryland as democrats across the nation face vocal opposition while trying to clear up what the white house calls rampant misinformation on the health care overhaul. the newest member of the supreme court, justice sonia sotomayor receives a standing ovation today from friends and supporters at the white house. >> it is this nation's fate, in a more perfect union, that allows a puerto rican girl from the bronx to stand here now. and american troops launch a major offensive in southern afghanistan. they are infiltrating a a taliban stronghold ahead of next week's afghan election. we will speak with the president of the council on foreign relations, richard hough, coming

up. first, good day, i'm andrea mitchell, live in washington. democratic senator ben cardson about to kick off his second town hall meeting of the week, brave man, ben cardin this one in hagerstown, maryland, by no means obama country. nbc's mike vicara live in hagerstown. mike, first of all, not an area that went for president obama. in fact, overwe will.ingly, the president won maryland 62-36, washington county, northwestern part of maryland, where hagerstown is mccain won, 66-43. that is the backdrop for what the town hall is going to address today. you talked to some people, scott wilson, health care. >> aim not for totally remark the current system. i just don't think the government has proved that they can spend my money wisely and,

frankly, i have got a grant, i have got a grandparent. my dad is still alive and i'm very concerned that there is going to be a time if they ever get cancer, they may have to wait to get services. >> mr. olsen does reflect the growing concerns, its anxiety that were fed, the white house would say, by a lot of misinformation out here. >> you are absolutely right, first of this about being a red area in a blue state, rent bade a republican in congress, the only one in the maryland delegation in the hauouse of representatives. that gentleman you played there, mr. olsen, came here with his 10-year-old son, on the advice of his 10-year-old son, seen it here if the paper in hagers town. they got here at 9:00 in the morning, full four hours before it was scheduled to begin. you see inside this theater here, there are about 450 attendees. i spoke to them in line.

a variety of people, all over the map. a majority of them had serious concerns where this health care reform bill is going in congress, andrea. >> mike, you know congress better than anyone. when you talk to members, to senators, are they now beginning to get concerned that the white house has not put its own stamp on this? i mean, they were the ones, the memberness of the hill, w members of the hill who wanted to shape health care legislation, now it seems into that vacuum has gotten a lot of fear and misinformation, as the white house claims? >> as far as the president is concerned, you're damned if you do damned if you don't. if you picked the clinton approach in '93 and '94, hand them a bill and say here it is, pass it, that obviously doesn't work f you come up organically through congress, members prefer, they are having problems. the president set his deadline, unable to meet passage on the house and senate floors by the

august recess. some of them will tell you, hey this is bet they are way, because there is no specific bill we can't say we are for this, against this, we can say we are working to change this bill but if you see these town halls, we have all seen the video, we have all seen the vity t -- vity t -- vitriol. a number of people have never been to a town hall before but they are here today. >> they so far seem to be polite. getting under way. >> haven't really started. >> we will be hearing back from you as well as another town hall that is taking place in northern new jersey at this hour. thanks so much. meanwhile, overseas, u.s. marines involved in this morning's eight-hour offensive in southern afghanistan say that taliban fighters put up such a strong resistance they must have been tipped up in advance. u.s., afghan and nato troops are trying to secure a remote afghan provinces before next week's crucial presidential election.

joining us now live from new york, richard hough, president of the council on foreign relations, former member of the state department and national security council. welcome. good to see you. let's talk about the afghan election and what it means with this weakened president, karzai, initially supported by the u.s. but never really expanded his reach beyond kabul, some would say, a corrupt regime. what is the significance of this election, assuming that he is going to win? >> the significance is that it's happening. afghan-style democracy in action. but there's probably slightly more downside than upside. not all the afghans are going to be able to vote. there is sure to be some violence. and more important as you suggest, mr. karzai are ultimately likely win, be it in the first round or second round six or so weeks later. but that victory will not be greeted by any widespread enthusiasm. he is seen as corrupt by many afghans, showing favoritism to this or that group or relative,

so, they will be to use a word once used in this country, a degree of malaise in the country likely after his victory. >> he is up against a number of candidatesing including the former foreign minister, abdullah abdullah. and is there any chance that karzai could lose? >> unlikely. the problem is if he country get 50% in the first round, forces him to go to a second round which weakens him. so i think he is likely to prevail, not a sure thing. i wouldn't bet the entire farm on it but he is clearly the odds-on favorite. >> captured several suspects and 660 pounds of opium, the taliban are using that drug cash to fund the insurgency. we are told this is a new strategy, the u.s. government, u.s. troops going after the drug dealers rather than letting them proceed and raise their props in

hopes that economic system would continue and help frankly gain u.s. support. is that a good strategy to go after the drug dealers? >> what the u.s. military is trying to do is thread the proverbial needle go after big dealers stop them but they don't want to go after the individual farmers because that to would simply alien senate many afghans and set up back in the counterinsurgency. they will try to choose their targets, not going to eradicate the drug trade, by any means but hopefully reduce it whether it is going to be reduced enough to make a real material difference on the strength of the taliban, i would simply say way too soon to judge that. >> waiting to hear from the ambassador, carl eikenberry, former general and also general mcchrystal, what numbers they want, what troops they need and what money they want for afghanistan. get together bigger picture what is the end game, has jim jones, has the president laid out for

the american people how long we will be there how long they expect to take and what is their goal? >> none of that is clear. this is increasingly become barack obama's war, to use my expression, his war of choice. we are going to be putting in more troops. we are going to be spending more dollars, economically as well as military any that country. it's not yet clear what exactly is achievable, given the weakness of of a again institutions, the weakness of their police and military, given the fact that pakistan is still a sanctuary. and as you again this story, the strength of the taliban, they are effective fighters. indeed, we are up against a far more formidable opponent than afghanistan than we ever were during the worst days in, say, iraq. so, exactly what the american people should expect what kind of a commitment and for how long is an open-ended question. and i believe it is something the president is going to have to address or he faces the possibility that support in this country for the afghan war will begin to evaporate. >> before i let you go richard,

i know you had a lot of responsibility for iran policy in the past. here, we have got these three american hikers, their families now appealing today for their release, saying that they did by mistake crossed over, they were hiking by a water fall. this sounds like the kind of apology we got in the early stages from the families of the two journalists in north korea that eventually led to their release. is there a positive scenario that could unfold here? >> it is quite possible that a new government, such as mr. ahmadinejad's in iran, which lack as legitimacy is going to be lacking to make some kind of a gesture in order to try to earn some goodwill points, so i would think that it is well within the realm of possibility that we see the iranians doing something that would eventually free these people. >> war of necessity, war of choice, by richard haass, great book. thanks for joining us, the council of foreign relations today. good to see you, richard. straight ahead, getting to

the root of the rage at town halls across the country. is this honest fear or is it manufactured outrage? and is the debate about health care anymore in the "washington post" dan ball explain what is is left and right about what they really argue about you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. exciting flavor combinations, plus a touch of garden greens make it irresistible. friskies indoor delights. feed the senses. so now we've turned her toffee into a business. my goal was to take an idea and make it happen. i'm janet long and i formed my toffee company through legalzoom. i never really thought i would make money doing what i love. robert shapiro: we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. go to legalzoom.com today and make your business dream a reality. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side.

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president obama is getting a friendlier reception at his health care town hall than most members of congress are. what is fueling all the tension around the country? misinformation is the white house explanation, or is it simply democracy at work or did the white house drop the ball and not explain what their intentions were? dan ball, national political reporter for the "washington post" and co-author of "battle ground for america 2008" a

terrific book on the election that we just had and a lot of insight into president obama. let's talk about what we learned what, you learned in your reporting about the obama who ran for office and how he has handled this health care rollup -- rollout. what did you see in covering the campaign that perhaps foretold the mistakes and the successes of what's happened so far? >> andrea, it is a really fascinating question. i would say a couple of things. first of all, everybody now thinks that barack obama is this candidate who was always inspirational and always on his marks. the reality was when he started out as a candidate, he had some very difficult weeks and months. he was not a particularly good candidate in the early stages of the campaign. he learned from those mistakes and became a better candidate over time. one would say he had to go through the same learning process as president, very difficult after a long campaign to jump in and assume the office at president and be running at

full speed and full efficiency. i think one of the things he has found out, as do all presidents, is that this is a very difficult job, particularly when you're taking on the size of the problems that he is taking on. i think the other reality is, certain things that happened in the campaign where he didn't square the circle. he was, on one hand, the inis spir racial candidate that was going to bring the country together and also at the same time a candidate with a very big agenda. that was easier to talk about in the campaign than to put into practice in office. and he is having to make choices now about what are his real priorities? >> we see this new gallup poll it has the country split, 35/36, pro and con. you dethe divisions there and a lot of people not knowing what they think about health care and complete flip with democrats versus republicans, democrats in favor and republicans largely against that is the kind of

expression we are seeing at these town halls and missouri with claire mccaskill, really got physical at some point this is how claire mccaskill, the senator today on "morning joe" described the experience of going to that town hall, watching people mixing it up and having people shout to her, which shouted do you trust me, they shouted no. this was the senator this morning, the day after. >> it was absolutely authentic. these folks like manufacturing. this is a grass roots things on both sides. both sides are organizing it is great. i'm so blessed to be from missouri it is a split even 50/50 state in so many ways, i get the far left scream agent me and the far right screaming at me and we try to find that middle. >> until you have to run for re-election. what you wrote about in your article today, dan, the people who are concerned about really arguing about something else, you wrote, "it is clear that the health debate has become a proxy for a bigger fight over whether the the federal government is assuming too much control over the economy. obama is on the defensive over

health care because his initiative is specially because they have a public insurance option is an easy target for opponents who say his administration is behind the most significant enlargement of the federal government since the great society program." the white house would say well, we inherited too much, we had to do the bailout, had to help the auto industry, but the net effect cumulatively is that people feel threatened by big government, the black helicopters are coming to get us. >> there's no doubt that because of what he felt he had to do with the economy, the auto industry, the banking industry and with the size of the stimulus package, he has injected an enormous amount of go of the into the economy. therefore, people are beginning to wonder if it's too much. and i think that is an underlying element of what this health care debate is. certainly, people have individual concerns. health care is a very personal issue. everybody approach it is through the prism of their own experience. people are wondering what the

health care system is like president obama is trying to create. this is resistance and whether this is more government than people are willing to accept. >> at this point what is your prediction, dan that he will end up compromising and accepting something, even if it -- a first step toward his larger goal rather than nothing on health care? >> i think he is determined to get something, i think he believes the praise of failure is too great, both for himself, for the democratic party and i think he believes for the country, in terms of health care. so i am confident they'll make compromises and i don't know when he will start to do that they have signalled their willingness to at least consider not having a public option, may be inching closer to that we will see. i think he is going to be prepared to make compromises but they have got a ways to go before they are ready to do that. >> dan ball, battle for america 2008, co-authored with haines

johnson. thanks so much. thanks for being with us. >> thank you, andrea. coming up, more on the health care debate. are the real he shall use getting lost in all the chaos from town halls, with tensions hitting fever pitch, lawmakers are seeking new twice set record straight. plus, do democrats have a senior problem? older americans are expressing angst over a medicare benefit. they have the same reservations when it comes time to head to the polls? you are watching andrea mitchell reports on msnbc, the place for politics. sometimes the best way to get closer... is to get as far away from it all as possible. don't let erectile dysfunction get in the way. ♪ viva viagra! viagra, america's most prescribed ed treatment, can help you enjoy... a more satisfying sexual experience. ready to talk to your doctor? find out how at viagra.com ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. don't take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain...

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welcome back to andrea mitchell reports. here are the top headlines we are following now on msnbc. u.s. marines in afghanistan have launched a new operation to uproot taliban fighters ahead of next week's presidential election. the offensive is aimed at strongholds in the south where the taliban remains solidly entrenched. a small plane crashed near new jersey's sussex airport it happened after takeoff. two men on the plane were flown

to a nearby hospital with nonlife threatening injuries. the u.s. government and swiss banking giant ubs have reached an agreement in a case that sought the names of more than 50,000 suspected american tax evaders believed to have put billions of dollars in secret swiss counties. officials say details will likely remain under wraps until at least next week. still to come right here, eunice kennedy shriver's last legacy. as her son, bobby, put it, she never ran for office and she changed the world. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc.

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[ engine powers down ] gentlemen, you booked your hotels on orbitz. well, the price went down, so you're all getting a check thanks. for the difference. except for you -- you didn't boowith orbitz, so you're not getting a check. well, i think we've all learned a valuable lesson today. good day, gentlemen. thanks a lot. thank you. introducing hotel price assurance, where if another orbitz customer books the same hotel for less, we send you a check for the difference, automatically. welcome back to "andrea mitchell reports." president obama argues that rampant misinformation is fueling those heat and sometimes physical fights at the town hall meetings. just moments ago, white house press secretary robert gibbs says that the president wants a rational discussion on health

care. >> we've always thought it more important to take disinformation that anybody may have about a proposal or something that that the president is trying to do and address directly that misinformation. the president believes that the town hall meeting is a structure where people ask discuss those issues. >> now, for two men who have anything but rational conversation, bob shah rum, democratic strategist, pat buchanan here. talk about the misinformation, bob, because some would say the white house contributed to itself, that there was a lot that the president said he said they had the endorsement of the aarp in his town hall in new hampshire. that is not the case, the aarp came out and said that today, he misstated his past position on the public option.

so the white house has also contributed, has it not, to some of the confusion out there? >> i think that you can argue that, i suppose, but i think the comparison is actually ludicrous. if you look in the new york times this morning, people are saying things that this little bill will make america like russia, the existence of the republic is at stake. worst of all, aided and abelted by new england and sarah palin that the bill mandates mercy killing of the elderly, which is entirely untrue. the question is whether democracy is going to be overcome. i don't think it will in the end. i don't think it will, because there will be a backlash against these tactics, secondly, nobody noticed it not as media genic as the town hall meetings about you the economy is in the process of recovering, even the rasmussen poll, not very favorable to obama, said the consumer confidence is now at a new high. i think a year from now, republicans who associated themselves with this are going to get blamed for trying to block the economic recovery, blamed for trying to block health reform and a very tough

midterm election. >> pat buchanan what about the death panels and fear tactics that have been used by people like sarah palin? >> bob is rights there is no mandated mercy killing in here. >> the doctor would be reimbursed if you once in five years on the for voluntarily get some sort of advice or information, living will. >> here's the thing. look, here is the thing, the major purpose of this thing is cut costs, most of the costs are in the last six months of life. everybody has to talk about we have to cut back certain things, can't do certain things, then this physician counselor showing up with recommendations, charles line, other people say what they talk about very nebulous. you want to pass this, throw something out, throw out funding

for abortions and i will heel aliens and an awful lot more people if those are extraneous and they are not in there, deliberately throw it out he wants bill, wants to fight folks on these issues, i think he will lose. >> over to you, bob. >> i guess you could predict that pat would find a way too do immigrant bashing in the midst of this discussion no funding provided for abortion in this bill, the provision 1233 you are talking about gives every person the same right that millions of people exercise today, which is voluntarily, if they want to to talk to their doctor about what degree of interventioning they want at the end of life so they can be spared interventions that only prolong their agony that goes on all the time. even the catholic church doesn't oppose that. >> bob and pat, let me play the president yesterday in new hampshire and ask you whether you think he is playing too much defense here. let's watch.

>> the rumor that's been circulating a lot lately is the idea that somehow, the house of representatives voted for death panels that will basically pull the plug on grandma because we have decided that we don't -- too expensive to let her live anymore. i am not in favor of that. just -- i want to -- i want to clear the air here. >> is that a great bumper sticker, i'm not in favor of pulling the plug on grandma? >> it is probably pretty good tactic for him now, he has go to go out there and in a rational way explain this. this went on before n the 1936 campaign you can the only point roosevelt seemed to be in trouble was when the republicans started campaigning against social security, said everybody would have to be fingerprinted, everybody would have to wear tags, the american government would control the workforce and

democratic leaders across the country said to the president, you have to address this. did he address t landon, his opponent, had raucous meetings were people were screaming about this and he carried two states. so, i think that obama is doing the right thing and he will he will pass a health care bill. >> doing the right thing, he's 39% approval on health care, negative on it is 52% it has been sinking ever since -- >> pat, pat, those are not the numbers that andrea gave at the beginning of this show. >> all the -- every time he goes out --. whose numbers are you citing, rasmuss rasmussen? >> this thing is going down. he is not getting this monster. if he is smart, he will cut it back, get rid of the controversial things, go for what he can get and say we are sleepily in debt and all these things, want to do this get the next part in 2011. >> try to ask you something which you can both agree, bob, let's talk about eunice shriver, extraordinary legacy of this woman, heading to hyannis today,

tonight, the wake is tomorrow, funeral on friday. she came out of a background where no one could have predicted this woman, someone of her gender, would have changed the world to the extent she did. bob, you knew her well and you know the ken dis. what is the legacy? >> she took the personal tragedy of her sister, rosemary, and turned it into a worldwide movement that has changed the lives of tens of millions of people and she started even before special olympics. she sat outside president kennedy's was a and lobbied for the first federal investment into research into retardation and the first agency to protect children who had retardation. she has changed the world. you know, what was her father i think once said if she had been born a man she could have been president and that's probably true if she had been born at a different time in history, but she actually changed the world far more than most politicians, wonderful person. >> i was at a right-to-life dinner in washington, d.c., you know, and there was eunice

shriver. >> she was very much against abortion. >> that takes courage for someone inside the democratic party and coalition to stand up for life when that whole party was moving against t sergeant shriver, too, i have had disagreements with him, but did you know that he was a proud member and a leader in the america first movement in the late 1930s up at yale, sergeant shriver? >> he said that was a mistake. said it quite often, in fact. >> let me ask you, bob, sort of this time that's better sweet, it's said, eunice kennedy had been i'lling a long time, she is 88. there is a passage here and we know about ted kennedy's illness what about the next generation? where do you see the next part of the kennedy legacy moving on in the shah lifers and kennedys in this -- their children? >> first of all, i have to say that eunice shriver lived a long life, for those that knew her, it was too short. secondly, i think she reflected

a fundamental value in that family that all her brothers and sisters share and i think the next generation shares, the idea if you are given a lot in life, then you owe something back and you have to give something back. and she found something to give back that was so extraordinary that it literally transformed the lives of people who before had just been thrown into back rooms, put into institutions, left alone. she gave a real meaning to the right to life in the sense that she understood that these folks, with intellectual disabilities, had a right to a full and decent life because of her, million of them are having it. >> i think with her passing and is senator kennedy in very, very di difficult straits, the kennedy clan as we knew it, grew up with it this family we have grown up with -- >> the royal family of america. >> since 1960 all the way up, and i think that sort of ends. i really don't and i have seen the younger folks and carolyn had a rough time there in new

york, i don't see the next generation -- >> you have maria, tim, mark shriver. >> do you see them as united states senators, presidential candidates, things like that? >> i see them if they run, pat, i see you opposing them. >> do you see them finding service roles in other areas, noneye ele nonelected politics. >> in yeah. >> eunice proved you don't have to run for office to have an enormous impact. i think some would do that and not surprised to see some of these folks run at some point but this third generation will make, i believe, a big contribution to the country and already is. >> and we have to leave it there bob shrum, see you soon, and pat buchanan. thank you very much. and coming up next, wall street waits for the federal reserve today. the issue is the outlack on the economic recovery. and new trouble on the horizon for cash for clunkers. congress gave the popular rebate system new life but dealers are now struggling to keep up with demand. you are watching "andrea

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it may not feel like it but "the wall street journal" says the majority of economists believe the recession is over after concluding a two-day meeting today, the federal veer of of is expected to acknowledge that economic growth will be faster than anticipated when it releases its policy statement less than hour from now. cnbc's ron insanaa joins us now. what else do you expect, interest rates probably held steady what do you expect in any kind of statement they might make? >> you know, i think we have to go through this wall street ritual as we do every six weeks where we go through the fed's statement that is accompanying their decision on interest rates. again, as you said, very much likely to leave them between zero and a quarter percent. what's important is the language about the speed of the apparent recovery, whether or not they see a recovery materializing and

whether or not it affects any of the emergency programs that they have had in place over the last many months to protect money market mutual funds, commercial paper programs to back stop the financial system in anyway. and i think a lot of investors will be looking to see if the fed thinks we have gotten past all the worst of this and may now be moving into a recovery page, which down the road would argue for higher interest rates. >> some sick nal as to how they will take liquidity out of the system, how they are going to exit from all of this intervention. >> that is a key area of contention, some who think the fed may have overstimulated the economy, i doubt that is true given how bad things were only five months ago. some want clarity how the emergency programs will be wound down. some will be wound down naturally, just expire as the private marketplace resumes its normal function, allowing corporations to borrow money or raise equity through the sale of

stocks. some of that's already taking place. other programs that the fed has to cut off it may have to start selling some of the bonds that it bought recently in order to shrink what it calls the fed's balance sheet, take some of that excess liquidity out of the system, the latter portion is farther down the road than most people would realize now. >> ask you cash for clunkers because the dealers are finding restrictive inventory. that is a good thing, because that is when you reach the point where production starts and that is when you actually have real stimulus, but at the same time, they are complaining because they don't have anything to sell. buyers are complaining this thing was more successful than expected. what happens next? >> well it is interesting. the real issue is you know, the automakers, because of all the decrease in demand that we saw during the depths of the economic crisis curtails production much earlier in the summer than normal so their inventories are depleted. all of a sudden, we have a stimulus program that is actually working where money is

going out, $3 billion going out to consumers, they are rushing to the dealer show rooms now to buy cars. obvious obviously, force manufacturers to ramp up production have a positive effect on the economy. the real question really it seems at this point now is more with the automakers than it is with the government. maybe they will just continue to extend the program so that people who want these cars and who want to do the trade-s in and get the 35 to $4500 rebates will be able to do t it's interesting, you know, i spoke last week with senator bob bennett on cnbc, andrea, and he opposes the plan. this isn't the first time i have heard a republican propose a tax cut that is actually working. and i asked him if he opposed it simply because it was work for the obama administration? he said, no, it was a bad program, but i think most everyone else would disagree. >> all right. ron insanaa, we will be watching to see what the fed does, thanks so much. what political story will be making headlines in the next 24 hours? that is next on msnbc, the place for politics.

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what story will be dominating headlines the next 24 hours? i can bet that it will be health care. let's take a look at what's happening in that town hall meeting. ben cardin, democrat from maryland, now speaking and answering questions. >> so i come to the philosophical belief that government has a responsibility to make sure there's affordable, quality health care to all. i happen to believe in chase andy versety and competition and to private doctors and hospitals, i believe in an american system. not some system importded from another country. i want to build on what is right with our system and correct what is wrong. >> but i want -- >> okay.

we have another question on the floor right here. >> thank you. >> senator cardin, thank you for your efforts today to come and listen to your constituents. my name's tom crawford. i'm very proud to live in washington county and to teach math -- [ bleep ]. >> ann kornblut joins us now from the white house. we were just watching a heated snippet from maryland. what do you expect the big story to be in the next 24 hours? >> i think there's no question health care will continue to dominate. in a little bit, there's going to be an award here, but health care, these town hall meetings, especially given the president's going to be traveling is going to continue to be the big topic.

h >> how is the white house handling their claim that the critics have misinformation, but that maybe it's not on the scale of what the opposition is doing. the president himself claims they have the support of the aarp. they don't. >> that's right. we did hear from robert gibbs in the briefing. he said that the president had misspoken. didn't mean to leave the impression that they have the support from the aarp on the specific piece of legislation, that in general, the aarp is working with them on parts of it. you're right. the white house has said it's not even close to the scale of the misstatements coming from the other side, especially on things like delt panels and reducing benefits in medicare. >> of course, the aarp has endorsed the proposition that

talks about end of life counseling. >> and there's been an inflation of two things. the counseling and experts. that's kind of merged together to talk about death panels, which the president doesn't support it. they want to be able to give the option of living wills and end of life counseling. they're really trying to explain that to people and hoping to do so again at these next sets of town hall meetings. >> some have suggested they need to fill in the gaps, the white house needs to be more proactive rather than waiting for congress at this point. they've passed the turn. >> that's the danger of the approach they've taken. they didn't want to repeat the mistakes of 1993 and then present a plan to the world or threaten to present to the world. they wanted to leave it up to

congress, but in doing that, obviously, the opposition has been able to talk about pieces that aren't even set in stone yet. >> thank you very much. and that does it for me. be sure to join us tomorrow. we're traveling again. we'll be reporting live from cape cod, massachusetts. we'll be there for the wake and funeral services for eunice kennedy shriver. >> coming up in the next hour, we are going to cut through some to have clutter surrounding the health care debate. we're also going to be talking about continental airlines. there's an investigation as to why they kept so many passengers trapped overnight. all that ahead here on msnbc. introducing the all new chevy equinox. with an epa estimated 32 miles per gallon.